Something Sturdy
by MissAlice1990
Summary: Little tag for threads. (one shot... for now)


Sam stood in her living room feeling lost. She had run out of distractions, and now she just stood there in the empty room with too many thoughts running through her mind. Maybe she shouldn't have broken things off with Pete. Sure, she had made up her mind after her dad said what he'd said, but now she was questioning herself.

"Don't let rules stand in your way." If she closed her eyes, she could still feel his hand wrapped around hers, see the look on his face. The look that said "come on kid, who do you think you're kidding." Of course her dad knew, he was on the Tok'ra high council. He had read the reports after the Zat'ark incident. She had thought her engagement to Pete would have been enough proof she was over it, but she couldn't fool herself, and she clearly couldn't fool her father. It was time to set Pete free. She was Surprised by his reaction. She shouldn't have been, everything about the man was calm, cool, and collected. understanding. With the exception of his little stalking problem of course.

She sighed. It's time she thought to herself as she moved to collect her keys from the counter. The doorbell rang and she froze, hand hovering over her keyring. She closed her fist and lowered it to her side. Daniel probably. It's for the best, I had almost forgotten about "Ms. Johnson." She sighed again, and ran her fingers through her hair. Too much had happened the last few days, but an encounter like that is hard to forget. Still, her subconscious had tried to file it away for later. Another thing she shouldn't have been surprised by. She moved to the door, glancing at herself in the mirror before opening it. I'm a mess. Well, Daniel won't care and if it's not him, at least the salesmen will be scared away. She opened the door and found herself frozen again, lost in the chocolate eyes staring back into hers. He looked worried. She must look worse than she thought.

"Sir! What.."

"I felt a little guilty ordering you off base, so I thought maybe I could make up for it with dinner."

"Uh.. yeah! Sure. Come in." She stepped aside and watched him walk into her kitchen, carrying two paper grocery bags balanced on top of a pizza box. He placed the box on the table and began rummaging through her cabinets.

"Something I can help you find, Sir?" She asked, trying to figure out what to do with her hands. She felt herself fiddling with something and looked down to see her key ring in her hand. 'When did I pick that up?' she wondered, before placing it back on the counter. The sound brough the General's attention back from his rummaging.

"Sorry Carter, were you headed out?" He asked, looking pointedly at her keys on the counter as he pulled to whiskey glasses out of her cabinet.

"Huh? Oh. Uh, no." He raised his eyebrows at her. 'Come on Carter, think of something. she thought before continuing. "I, uh… was going to head for pizza." she lied lamely, sticking running her fingers through her hair again.

"Uh huh. Look, Carter, if this was a bad time, I can come back." He set the glasses on the counter, and the clanking sound they made caused her to flinch.

"No! I mean," she took a steadying breath, "Sir, to be honest, I really don't want to be alone right now. I've... " she gestured broadly to her house "I've already rearranged everything in the house three times, and re-categorized every book I own."

"I can tell."

"So you'll stay?" She asked, hopefully.

"If that's what you want."

"It is."

"Okay, it's settled then." He reached into a bag and pulled out a bottle of amber colored liquor. Sam took in the label before looking to him again, surprised.

"That was my dad's favorite brandy."

"Yeah, I know." He smiled at her. "I used to keep a bottle on base for him just in case he came by for a visit. This bottle never made it to him." He looked sad for a moment as he poured two glasses of brandy. He handed one to her before smiling and saying "To dad."

Sam held up her glass, a smile on her face as she took a sip. "You know, he really loved you Sir. Like you were his own son" He looked at her with a small, hopeful smile on his face. "You are the only person outside of Mark and I he ever allowed to call him Dad. My best friend in highschool tried once at a sleepover, and I swear she never came to my house again. Not even Pete-" she stopped and looked into her glass, pretending to poke at something in the liquid with her finger. "My point is, sir." she looked back up at him, meeting his eyes. "You were family to him."

"Well, then," he said, not breaking eye contact. "Here's to family."

"To family." Sam smiled, as they both took another drink. She started to feel uncomfortable then, unsure what to say next. "We should-" she finally said, gesturing at the pizza box.

"Oh! Yeah." he moved the bags from the top of the pizza box and opened it as Sam handed him a plate from her cupboard. She then reached for a piece of pizza with her left hand, but paused and looked up as she felt his eyes on her again.

"Sir?"

"You lose something, Carter?" He asked, flicking his eyes between her empty ring finger and her own eyes.

She moved her hand self-consciously to her stomach. "Oh. I uh… gave it back, sir." She picked at her sleeve, holding the plate loosely in her right hand and pointedly not looking at him.

He stared at her for a moment before responding. "Good." her eyes shot to his. "It didn't suit you."

She felt the side of her mouth begin to pull up into a half smile before she responded. "It didn't, sir?"

"Nah. too showy and fragile. A bit distracting too. You need something a little more… rugged."

"Rugged, sir?" She didn't miss the double meaning in his speech.

"You know, something sturdy that you can rely on staying in one piece no matter how much it gets beat up."

"It sounds like you've given this subject a lot of thought, sir." she was smiling freely now.

"I have." he stated, still staring at her. "So… is he gonna get you a new one?" He winced as he asked.

"No." she said, setting her plate down on the counter, and rubbing her hands on her pant legs nervously. "I uh… called off the wedding." She was looking at the plate in his hands when it fell and shattered on the floor. Before she had time to react his lips were on hers, hands cupping her face. It took her a second to register what was happening before she began to respond, her hand trailing onto his chest before slipping over his shoulder and around his neck.

He finally pulled back, and they stared at each other for a second before her mind began to catch up.

"Johnson?" she asked simply.

"Over." he was staring into her eyes, still only an inch or so apart. "I, uh… sent in my request for retirement today."

"You did."

"Yup."

"Jack?"

"Sam?"

"Take me fishing."

He grinned broadly and pulled her in for another kiss.


End file.
